Featured Articles
The New Village Life of Japanese Youth
In 2007, the expression "KY" (kuuki ga yomenai, "unable to read the air"), which first arose among young people, was nominated for the Neologism-Buzzword Prize. But I've realized that today's young people seem to have become almost too good at reading the atmosphere. This is rather strange. "Reading the air" has been a custom in Japan since ancient times. However, in the post-war transition from the high-growth period to the bubble economy, the etiquette of "reading the air" was lost. That's what would be expected. But in reality, at this point the etiquette of "reading the air" has started to be revived among young people.
Working with Japan
Start with the Strengths
By Patricia Pringle
Appreciate the Positives
We work with American clients and Japanese clients who are doing business together. They contact us for cross-cultural assessments, training and teambuilding when they are actively looking for ways to work together more effectively and to reduce friction. They say, “We want to understand the way they work, and we want them to understand how we work.” But sometimes this means, “We want you to tell them the way things are done around here. We want you to fix them.” Clients typically expect us to begin our work with a survey of all the problems and barriers. Instead, we try to learn what each side appreciates about working with people from the other culture. What do they see as strong points? Last month I wrote about what the Japanese say they appreciate about the way Americans work. This time, I will write about what Americans say are Japanese strengths.
Products Of The Month
Floating Globe
This exotic "Fantasy Universe Zeus," a glowing model of the earth measuring 8.5 cm in diameter, gracefully rotates above its reflective base without any visible wires. The unit functions via AC power supply (adapter included).
Contents
2010 May Contents
2010 May Contents
Ranking
SPENDINGWhat do you want to spend more money on this year? Source: Nomura Research Institute, Ltd. (Conducted among people of all ages)
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